NASA Spots New Island In Pacific Ocean As Underwater Volcano Erupts , says : the new island might not be here to stay as islands created by submarine volcanoes are often “short-lived”.
- Following the eruption of an underwater volcano not far from Australia, a new island has been discovered in the southwest Pacific Ocean.
- The island was estimated to be 4,000 square metres in size and 10 metres above sea level on September 14 by Tonga Geological Services experts.
- The new island appeared hours after the Home Reef volcano located in the Central Tonga islands started oozing lava and ejecting plumes of steam and ash.
A new baby island has been discovered in the southwest Pacific Ocean, just hours after an undersea volcano near Australia erupted.
The Home Reef volcano in the Central Tonga Islands began spewing lava, steam, and ash earlier this month, discolouring the surrounding sea. The new island appeared above the water’s surface just eleven hours after the eruption, according to NASA Earth Observatory, which obtained photographs of the island with satellites.
According to NASA, the new island is located on the Home Reef seamount in the Central Tonga Islands, southwest of the archipelago’s Late Island. However, it was also stated that the infant island might not be here to stay.
“Islands formed by undersea volcanoes are frequently short-lived, though they can last for years,” NASA added.
“An island formed by a 12-day eruption of adjacent Late’iki Volcano in 2020 washed away after two months, although an earlier island formed by the same volcano in 1995 lasted for 25 years,” the report continued.
Meanwhile, the Home Reef volcano was continuing erupting on Monday, according to a Facebook post by the Tonga Geological Services. Officials noted in a statement that the volcanic activity at Home Reef Volcano has been progressive in the last 24 hours, with 21 volcanic events. They did, however, add that the volcano’s activity poses a “minimal risk” to the Aviation Community as well as people of the Vava’u and Ha’apai island groups in central Tonga.
“The volcano poses low risks to the aviation community and the residents of Vava‘u and Ha‘apai,” the Tonga Geological Service said in an update issued on September 20. “All mariners are, however, advised to sail beyond 4 kilometers away from Home Reef until further notice.” The service noted that most ash should fall within a few kilometers of the vent.
The eruption serves as a reminder of the Pacific Islands’ vulnerability to natural disasters. The eruption of the Hunga-Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano in January triggered ash fall and a tsunami, killing numerous people and destroying homes and crops in Tonga.
Therefore, we will have to wait a while to observe if it succeeds in materialising its presence for a longer period of time or if, on the other hand, it ultimately ends up getting diluted in the water. Already, a number of scenarios are being tested to see what the authorities will do. In order to prevent stranding of the ships already present, navigation has been restricted for the time being inside a specific radius.